The absurdity? He is condemned more for than for the crime itself.

That iconic line opens Albert Camus’ masterpiece The Stranger ( L’Étranger ), and it immediately introduces us to the protagonist – Meursault – a man who feels like a foreigner not only in society, but in his own life.

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In prison, awaiting execution, Meursault finally opens himself to the “tender indifference of the world.” He realizes: the universe is indifferent, and that’s okay. The stranger’s victory is not in belonging – but in accepting that he never will, and still finding peace.